Cawood

Cawood (other names: Carwood) is a large village (formerly a market town) and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England that is notable as the finding-place of the Cawood sword.

In his King's England series, Arthur Mee refers to Cawood as "the Windsor of the North". It used to be the residence of the Archbishops of York. The name is believed to come from the characteristic noise made by crows in the nearby woods. Cawood is south of the point where the River Wharfe flows into the River Ouse which subsequently forms the northern border of the village. Cawood Bridge is the only bridge from the village which spans the river. The bridge was opened in 1872: before then the only means of crossing was by use of a ferry. Dick Turpin is said to have forded the river when he escaped to York, which lies ten miles north of Cawood. The River Ouse used to flood the village regularly in winter. Since the floods of January 1982, whose height is marked on the bridgekeeper's cottage, river defences have been raised so that the fields on the northern side (Kelfield Ings) and the former Ferry Boat Inn, also on the Kelfield side, are now the only areas that flood, even at times of exceptionally high waters, such as in November 2000.